Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is to use the world’s largest vessel to decommission its iconic Brent field in …

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is to use the world’s largest vessel to decommission its iconic Brent field in the North Sea.
Energy Voice travelled to Rotterdam to get a behind the scenes look at the ship ahead of the record breaking 24,000 ton lift of the Brent Delta topside this summer.

Created as both a heavy lift and a pipeline laying machine, the behemoth ship is nearly 400 metres long and more than 100 metres wide.

Using a state of the art dynamic positioning system and 16 custom built lift beams, it can position a defunct oil platform between its two hulls and jack it up off its legs in a day’s work.

It was created by Allseas, a Swiss based pipeline shipping contractor and cost around $3 billion to make.